Light and death

A series of deaths expose a big computer-maker to unaccustomed scrutiny

APPLE was expecting lots of publicity ahead of the international release of the iPad, its latest gadget, on May 28th—but not the sort it received in Hong Kong this week, which included the ritual burning of pictures of iPhones and calls for a global boycott. The protests were triggered by a series of suicides of employees of Foxconn, a subsidiary of Taiwan's Hon Hai Precision Industry Company, the world's largest “contract manufacturer”. It makes products for Apple and, according to reports, most other electronics heavyweights, among them Dell, HP, Nintendo and Sony.

Foxconn employs about 800,000 people, roughly half of whom work and live in Shenzhen, just across the border from Hong Kong. The firm operates a huge industrial park there, which it calls Foxconn City, with 15 multi-storey manufacturing buildings, each dedicated to one customer. This is where the suicides took place. Two other employees at the facility have been severely injured in recent suicide attempts; the company says it has averted a further 20.

The toll (a dozen this year) is lower than the suicide rate among the general population in China. But the deaths have raised questions about working conditions in electronics manufacturing in general and in particular at Foxconn, which keeps its customers secret, rarely opens its plants to outsiders and routinely ignores press inquiries.

Conditions at the firm are actually not that bad compared with many others, says Boy Lüthje of the Institute of Social Research in Frankfurt. It pays new hires in Shenzhen the minimum wage of 900 yuan ($130) a month. Food and lodging are free, as are extensive recreational facilities. But workers routinely put in overtime in excess of the 36 hours a month permitted under Chinese law, says Mr Lüthje. Annual turnover is 30-40%, but a constant stream of young migrant workers replaces those who move on.

In response to the suicides, the company is said to have surrounded buildings with nets, hired counsellors, brought in Buddhist monks to pray and toyed with asking employees to sign a “no suicide” pledge. On an impromptu visit to Shenzhen, Hon Hai's chief executive, Terry Guo, insisted that he was not running a “sweatshop”.

The Chinese press used to laud Foxconn for creating jobs, but the firm has become an object of criticism and undercover investigations. Clients including Apple, Dell and HP have announced inquiries, doubtless fearing bad press of their own. A firm and an industry that had become accustomed to obscurity will have to get used to the limelight.